Obligatory Pre-Release Discography Recap: Awake

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Again, limit yourself to 200 words. Or do whatever the hell you want...

Awake is the most un-Dream Theater of all DT albums. I find myself liking it for reasons that are entirely different from why I like their other albums: it's got lots of gear changes, it's kind of groovy, it's very subtle. Although Images and Words probably has the best songs, Awake probably offers the best overall experience.

Rating: 4.5 or 5 (out of five)

[Chrissalix]

'Melody walks through the doooor!!!!! And memory flies out the windoooooooooowwwww!!!!'

Dream Theater on Awake couldn't get any darker if you took the lightbulbs out of the sockets and replaced them with lumps of coal. A much moodier album than it's illustrious predecessor and to its credit it's almost as good! LaBrie takes a more aggressive approach but still hits the high notes when asked to such as on Innocence Faded making you wonder what might have been were it not for a dodgy taco. Space Dye Vest represents Kevin Moore's final calling card in DT folklore and 6:00 and Lie both lyrically reference his growing frustration with the band. All in all a decent effort which despite not having any real standout moments, is a more than decent album.

[Tumdace]

Overall an excellent album, very different from their previous efforts, but in a good way.

Very moody ending, sort of lets you down alot easier than I&W (althought I prefer LTL to SDV)

The Mirror is one of my favourite heavier DT songs.

Lie and Scarred are some of my other top picks.

6:00: 8.5/10
Caught In a Web: 9/10
Innocence Faded: 8.5/10
Erotomania: 9.5/10
Voices: 9.5/10
The Silent Man: 8.5/10
The Mirror: 10/10
Lie: 9/10
Lifting Shadows Off A Dream: 8.5/10
Scarred: 10/10
Space-Dye Vest: 8/10

[theseoafs]

On the whole, it's pretty overrated. It's still full of strong songs, with the comparatively mediocre rockers 6:00, Caught in a Web, and Lifting Shadows off a Dream preventing the album from achieving perfection. I suggest this tracklisting:

1. The Mirror
2. Lie
3. Innocence Faded
4. Erotomania
5. Voices
6. The Silent Man
7. Scarred
8. Space Dye Vest

for an album whose length is roughly the same as Images and Words', and which is quite nearly as strong.

[reo73]

My all-time favorite album by any band anywhere.  It has a quality to it that no other DT album has.  It's heavy, dark, moody, and well executed.  What I like most is the songs are proggy but not overly complex or bombastic and they flow seamlessly together.  DT also come up with unique arrangements on this album that feel a bit different from any other release.  There is not a 'skip' song on the disc and Voices is probably my favorite DT song, depending on the day you ask me.  Notable parts include the riff of 6:00, the heaviness and chromatic scales of CIAW, the pre-chorus and outro of Innocence faded, the classical breakdown in Erotomania, the moody & dark parts of Voices along with the solo, the acoustic breather of Silent Man, the intro riff to The Mirror, the riff and solo to Lie, the delayed clean electric on LSOAD, the jazzy intro to Scarred, and of course the haunting piano and samples in SDV.

[Chino]

My first 4 years or so of being a DT Awake was my least favorite album ( I started listening to DT in early 04). Then for some reason it just clicked one day. I would rank it as DT's 3rd or 4th best album.

[emtee]

My favorite DT album. In my top 5 albums of all time. You choose the superlative and I'll agree with it.
IMO they have never topped and probably never will. The best prog metal album ever written.

[Dublagent66]

On the contrary, I think Awake represents DT's style better than most other albums.  It was a perfect follow up to Images & Words.  I wish they would get back to that kind of writing.

[BlobVanDam]

Awake would be a great album to me if only they'd chopped the last half hour or so. The album builds up so well with a good combination of heavy, melodic songs with some killer hooks, then right when its at its peak, the album fizzles out from Lie, The Mirror's underdeveloped Siamese twin attached at the legs. But even Lie isn't too bad, aside from the strange lyrics.
Then there's Lifting Shadows, a slightly dull yet still pleasant enough song. But it finishes off with probably my bottom 2 DT songs, Scarred and Space Dye Vest.

To me it's a great album that's dragged down by too much I dislike in one big chunk at the end.

Another reason this album never really connected for me is that it doesn't have the same energy and fun of their other music. Listen to IaW. It's a fun, energetic album, even when it's at its most serious. So for me Awake is just missing that extra something that puts IaW and SFAM well above it for me. I know the darker mood is one reason why people love it, but not so much for me. Different strokes.

6:00 - 7/10
Caught in a Web - 8.5/10
Innocence Faded - 8/10
Erotomania - 9/10
Voices - 9/10
The Silent Man - 8.5/10
The Mirror - 8/10
Lie - 6/10
Lifting Shadows Off a Dream - 5/10
Scarred - 2/10
Space Dye Vest - 3/10


Anyway, I tried to keep that as honest as respectful as I could, so hopefully nobody takes too much offense at that. Just my opinion.

[The Presence of Frenemies]

If you like your DT subtle, it'll be right at the top of your list; if you like your DT bombastic, as I do, it won't rank particularly highly. Still, it's an undeniably solid album with several really great songs--even though it's not one of my favorites, I find that it sounds good no matter what mood I'm in. Given that they'd never written an album anywhere near that quickly and were dealing with tons of internal tension, it's certainly nothing to be ashamed of, and it would take half a decade and two keyboard player changes for DT to top this album. A solid 4/5, and tied with SDOIT as DT's sixth best, ahead of 8V, FII, and WDADU.

[ElliottTamer]

Ah, Awake... According to the poll I conducted a while back, this is DT's most controversial album, as far as reception goes. Many love it, consider it to be part of DT's "holy trinity", if not DT's best album altogether.
For me, Awake is a very interesting album. Though one of my least liked DT albums, it nonetheless impresses the listener, particularly with its atmosphere, something I believe DT has never done better than in Awake. Each song has a clear mood and the composition brings that to the forefront.
That being said, there are quite a lot of songs I don't care for or dislike in this album. 6:00 is a song I never liked, while Caught in a Web is one I am mostly neutral about (though I tend to like its chorus). It is with Innocence Faded that the album really starts for me. And what a great song it is!
Add to that the brilliant A Mind Beside Itself suite, the mysteriously uplifting Lifting Shadows Off a Dream, the powerful Scarred and the beautiful Space Dye Vest and you find in Awake a flawed album with a lot of great tracks.

7.5/10